Sometimes things are not what the seem. As I past this fellow I first thought that a partridge shows me its backside. I took a second look and spoted that it watched me. It was a bittern. A rare bird that is hard to watch as it lives well masked in the reeds. This one sat beside the cart-track. Sometimes you have all the luck. I was able to take three shots before it flew away. This is a crop of the first shot.

The picture was taken with my new 80-400VR. I bought this lens because I recognized that is nearly impossible to take sharp pictures with a 600mm ( on a D1 ) without image stabilization. Even with the lens rested on a beanbag it is hard to get good results without stabilization because of wind that shakes the car slightly. With image stabilization you can even handhold this lens on the long end with times as slow as 1/125sec and get sharp results. A review of this lens can be found HERE.

The picture was taken on the 27th April at the Nationalpark Neusiedlersee. This is the best place for birding in Austria. This year I started to visit this place regulary because I want to take pictures of wildlife and birds.